There is an ongoing desire to further improve the efficiency and performance of hydrocarbon recovery and processing methods. It is also widely recognized that many methods for recovery and processing of hydrocarbons are associated with high input requirements, such as energy input. This is particularly applicable in the recovery and processing of heavy oil and bitumen, as the heavy oil and bitumen must be mobilized in order to extract or separate the hydrocarbons from the mineral matrix that often includes sand and clay. The processing of heavy oil and bitumen can also require significant energy input to separate or process various components of such complex hydrocarbon materials. The capital and operating costs for recovery and processing of heavy oil and bitumen can be significant. To recover the significant costs associated with recovery and processing of heavy oil and bitumen, conventional operations have focused on maximizing the volumetric yield of hydrocarbons extracted from the starting material and of hydrocarbon products produced from intermediary processed hydrocarbons throughout the overall processing operation.